The Case of David Carlton

Last weekend, my daughter Faye told me that she needs to finish a homework in Science. She was worried because she didn’t know where to start and she needed it by Monday. She said she needs to write a one-page story and analyze it according to some scientific steps, like, Observe, Formulate a Question, etc. I asked her to show me the lessons that they had regarding the topic. She also told me that her teacher showed the class a sample detective story which was used to outline the scientific steps in analysis. When I heard the word “detective”, I remembered the story, The Adventure of Charlie Hamilton, that she wrote last year for her English subject, and I had a brilliant idea of suggesting that she just use it for her scientific analysis. She retrieved a copy of the story, and we went through it. I helped her identify the answers to the different steps of the scientific analysis. Though she wasn’t 100% sure that she wanted to use the same story, I was able to convince her to go ahead and just use it. I advised her to sleep on it and just finalize it the next day. However, the next day, she changed her mind. She didn’t want to use the story anymore. She wanted to write another story from scratch. I tried to tell her that she wouldn’t have enough time to finish it, but she insisted that she didn’t feel like using the Charlie Hamilton story. I couldn’t convince her otherwise, so, I just let her be. She started typing the story in her sister’s laptop using Wordpad (the installed MS Word software was corrupted), and the next morning, when I asked her how her story went, she said she was surprised because she ended up with four pages instead of one. I asked her how did it happen. She said she had so many ideas and was concerned with the continuity of her story that she just continued typing and she thought she was still on page one of the document. When I opened the file using Wordpad, she was right, there was only one page, but when I opened it using Microsoft Word, there were a total of four pages. She was worried that her teacher might not accept it since she went beyond the required number of pages. I just told her that she shouldn’t worry and that her teacher might even appreciate that she was able to write a long story. When she went home from school, she was so happy when she said that her teacher accepted her homework, but she was also wondering why her other classmates were able to write their stories in just one page, some even less, while the story that she wrote was impossible to fit into just one page.

I’m sharing here with you the story that she wrote. This is another detective story, just like the first story that she wrote. This is completely her idea, just copied and pasted from her file. I didn’t make any changes, whatsoever. As you read this — though the plot is somehow violent — you can still gauge that it was written by a young mind, especially if you carefully read the way she concluded the story.

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The Case of David Carlton

James Thompson is a detective in charge of cases about murder victims, crimes which still remains a mystery to the families of the victims. He’s already working for 17 years that’s why he’s chosen by so many people to handle the cases. One Saturday morning, while he’s at home, his boss, Mr. Andrew Robinson, called him and their conversation went like this:

“Hello, am I speaking to Mr. James Thompson?” said Mr. Andrew Robinson on the other side of the line.

“Yes you are. Who’s this?” replied James.
“This is your boss speaking. Sorry to bother you this early, but I’m afraid there has been a murder case involving a businessman who owns a company and his family wants you to investigate and handle the case,” said Mr. Robinson.
”Oh, okay. If that’s so. Where did it happen, by the way?” said James.
“Just outside the building where he works. It’s name is Carlton Financing Company,” replied Mr. Robinson.
“Oh yeah. That company is pretty famous. I’ll be there in an hour and a half. Bye,” said James.
“Okay. Good Luck. Oh, Just call me when you need anything. Bye,” said Mr. Robinson.

When he hung up the phone, he immediately took a bath, got dressed, prepared his things and drove to the building.

When he got to the place, he took his briefcase and went out of his car. He immediately saw policemen in the crime scene.

“Excuse me, I’m the detective in charge of this case, can I look around here?” asked James.
“Yeah, sure. Do what you need to do, take your time,” replied the first policeman, Officer Jacob Lopez.

He immediately checked the crime scene and checked for footprints, drops of blood, and other things that might serve as clue about the incident. He asked himself reasons about why someone would kill him, if it was about company rivalries, but his thoughts were interrupted when the second police officer, Charlie Davis, spoke to him.

“Hey, the family of the victim wants to talk to you. They’re inside the building,” said the police officer.

He walked inside the building and he saw the father and the mother talking to the person in charge in the lobby. They immediately noticed him and walked up straight to him.

“Are you the detective in charge of this case?” said the mother, Verona Carlton.
“Yes I am, I’m James Thompson, by the way,” replied James.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Verona Carlton and this is my husband, Kendall Carlton and our son’s name is David Carlton,” said the mother.
“Nice to meet you,” said the father.
“Nice to meet you too, the police officer said you wanted to talk to me?” replied James.
“We just wanted to ask if you won’t stop investigating on this case and how you would do it,” said the father.
“Oh well, you can surely count on me because I don’t stop investigating a case unless I’m finished with it. I’m gonna ask a few questions about the victim and do a background check on him if that’s okay,” replied James.
“Yeah sure, that’s perfectly fine,” said Verona Carlton.
“Okay let’s start, shall we? So, do you have any idea, why a person would do that to him?” said James.

“Well, we’re not really sure, but sometimes he tells us something about some other company rivals during conferences. But we’re not really sure about what was happening because he’s the kind of person who’s always keeping secrets because he’s afraid people won’t understand him,” said the mother.

But before he could reply, the mother burst into tears, and all he could do was comfort her and say he was sorry for being too straight forward.

“No, no It’s okay. I just miss him so much. It’s okay, you can carry on asking,” replied the mother after a few minutes.
“Okay, if that’s fine with you. So, about this rivals, do you have any idea who owns this company?” said James.
“Yes, we know. The company’s name is Matstone Financing Company, and the company’s owner is Jennifer Matstone. Yes I know, she’s a girl,” said the mother when she saw the surprised look James has.
“Our son said that Jennifer is very, very competitive in terms of things about companies,” said the father.
“And he also said that when, they first met, he was already sure that Jennifer would be his first company rival. He even said that when they first talked, she was already boasting about getting richer clients, but of course, my son being humble, he just pretends to be listening and understanding what she’s saying,” said the mother.

James listened as he wrote down the information in his notepad.

“Okay, so, may I ask how your son is doing in being the owner of the company?” James finally said.
“Well, when it comes to clients, he becomes so serious with it that he sometimes gets irritated and annoyed easily, and sometimes gets too demanding to his secretaries and such,” said the mother.
“Can I ask you something? Do you know where Ms. Jennifer Matstone is right now?” asked James.
“We’re not really sure, but the last thing we heard was that she was in her house right now. She’s living in a penthouse near SM Megamall,” said the father.
“Okay, thank you very much, that really helps a lot. I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna go and ask her a few questions, and when I get back here, I’ll get a few more information, okay?” said James.
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you do,” said the mother.

James walked out of the building and drove to the penthouse near SM Megamall. When he got there, it was already 9:30 a.m. He went inside the penthouse building and asked the guard what number Jennifer Matstone ‘s room is. the guard said it was on the 5th floor room 527.

While he was walking to the elevator, he was thinking about reasons why someone would kill a person just because of a company rivalry. Its really bizarre, he thought.

When he got to the 5th floor he searched for room 527 and when he found it, he knocked on the door and immediately, someone answered it.

“Hi, may I help you?” said Ms. Jennifer Matstone.
“Hi, are you Ms. Jennifer Matstone?” said James.
“Yes I am., why?” asked Ms. Matstone.
“I’m James Thompson, by the way, I handle the case of Mr. David Carlton. I’m sure you know Mr. David Carlton and what happened to him?” asked James.

Her expression immediately changed from calm to nervous.

“Yes, why? Don’t tell me you’re suspecting me of what happened to him?” asked Jennifer.
“I’m not really suspecting you, I just wanted to ask a few questions about him, if that’s alright,” said James.
“Yeah, right. Come on in,” said Jennifer.

He went inside and got straight to the point.

“So, I’ll just ask a few questions and I’ll leave, okay?” asked James.
“Sure,” said Jennifer in a nervous tone.
“What was your first impression when you met him?”
“Well, I admit I already knew he was really good and famous. But I never complimented him, instead, I boasted things about my company.”

James wrote down information about Jennifer.

“Okay, so, how are your communication?” asked James.
”Well, when we first talked, he wasn’t really talking that much, but I can really see that he wasn’t really listening, just pretending, you know?” she said.
”Yeah, so you have no idea how he died?” he asked.
”Wha- What? No, no. Uh, I mean, I’m not uh, really su-sure,” she said.

James already knew she was lying. He’s already used to these kind of things.

“I know you’re lying. Tell me the truth,” said James.
”I’m not lying! Get out, or I’ll call the guards,” she said, almost shouting.
”Okay, okay, I’ll just talk to you for a few more minutes,” said James.
”Whatever,” Jennifer said.
”I’m going to ask you again, do you have any idea how he died? Please tell me the truth this time or else, you’ll go with me,” he said, looking into her eyes.
”Okay, okay, I’ll go with you. Come on!” said Jennifer.

While they were driving to the company building, he continued his interrupted thinking about why someone would kill him, but he guessed that maybe it was because of jealousy because he read in a newspaper one time that David Carlton received so many awards. His thinking was interrupted yet again when they got to the building. He went inside and explained to the parents everything he found out about Jennifer Matstone and assured them that he would talk to her privately. So, after that, he went to Jennifer and told her that they should talk somewhere else. She said she knew a place. He found out it was a park. So, they sat down, and he started asking some more questions.

“So are you going to tell me now?” he asked
”Uh, uhm. UH! Okay, okay I’ll tell you, you happy now?” Jennifer said.
”Yes. Yes I am,” said James.
”Well, I really didn’t mean to kill him, but I did plan on getting him hurt just to stop him from working and getting awards for being famous and good, but my stupid servant didn’t just shoot him, he killed him! I was so scared and mad at the same time, but I just tried to stay calm and thought that no one would think that I may be a suspect in what happened to him, but I just can’t remain silent, I can’t kill someone, well, I actually didn’t, but I paid a person to hurt someone! I didn’t really thought that it would kill him, but I was just so jealous of everything he has telling everything to you even though I know nothing about you!” said Jennifer while James was taking down notes.
”Okay, so, all in all, what you mean is, you were just jealous of everything he has, that’s why you decided to hurt him, but ended up killing him?” asked James.
”Yeah, I mean, no! I didn’t mean to kill him, I think the person I paid just got it wrong,” said Jennifer.
”Okay I’m just going to ask you one thing: Are you willing to surrender to the police?” asked James.
”What?! I don’t know!” said Jennifer, shouting.
”Please, I really need to do this, If you won’t surrender to the policemen, then what’s the purpose of me going here and asking you questions?” said James.
”What am I going to do if they arrest me? How am I going to get a lawyer?” asked Jennifer.
”Well, maybe you should just explain to them and try to convince them not to kill you and let them find the person you paid,” said James.
”Are you sure they’re going to do that?” said Jennifer.
”I dunno, why don’t you try? Come on!” said James.

When they walked back to the crime scene, it was already 1:30 in the afternoon. James explained everything to the police, and after a few minutes, he let Jennifer explain to the police, too. Meanwhile, while Jennifer is explaining, he observed yet again and searched for bullets but found nothing. He got his notepad and analyzed all the information he got. Then Jennifer got back and this is how their conversation went:

“So, what did the policemen said?” asked James.
”Well, they said that they would still arrest me but they won’t put me in jail for too long. Since I’m not really the one who killed him. But they’re still going to find the person I paid. So thank you for all your help!” Jennifer said.
”That’s nothing. That’s my job, isn’t it?” said James.
”Thank you very much! I’ll see you some time, okay! Bye!” said Jennifer.

After that, David Carlton’s parents walked up to him and thanked him for everything he did, and even the police thanked him. He therefore concluded that Jennifer Matstone didn’t really kill David Carlton, she was just so jealous that she decided to hurt him. That’s all. And with that, another mystery is solved.

Hello Pearl. You have a kid who is a good writer. Let her develop that with your full support. With the story, I was able to imagine the way she wrote the story. Congratulations to that Pearl and congrats also to your kid. Good Luck to her. She has a talent. :-).

About Me

Hello, I'm Pearl and welcome to my little corner in the blogging world! Here you will find me talking about my family life and everything else that inspire me to write.
I love God. I love my family. I love baking. It's my stress-reliever. It's my passion. I love crafts. I love photography and doing layouts for my photobooks. I love to paint. I love to write.